The OTA is now well into their four-year strategic planning cycle and I am proud to say the organization continues to strengthen its financial commitments to important programs, and to human resources and partnerships needed to lead the growth of tennis in Ontario and across Canada.
Financially, OTA is well positioned, having reached a $2M budget milestone this past fall when the 2015 budget was finalized by the board. Since 2011, the OTA's budget has increased an incredible 35% thanks to the hard work of OTA's Executive Director Jim Boyce and his staff. During this same period, government grant support has increased an astonishing 98%! None of that success would be possible without the strong support by OTA member clubs who recognize the leadership and benefits OTA brings to tennis in their community and across Ontario.
Volunteerism
The year 2014 was another standout year for
volunteerism in the province. Throughout the year the OTA provided over 40
recognition certificates to clubs and regions who honoured outstanding
volunteers in communities across Ontario. As we've done for the past 12 years, we
saved our highest recognitions for late October with the Distinguished
Services Award dinner. The award for 2014 went to two deserving recipients:
Julio DiCresce from Bolton Tennis Club and Renate Crizzle from Heron Park
Tennis Club. Congratulations to both Julio and Renate for their high level of
contributions over so many years.
On a larger scale, the OTA hosted the 9th annual Presidents' Day session
during Rogers Cup on August 4th. Club executives from about 90 member clubs
attended (200+ participants) and it is our way of recognizing the hard work of
all member club board volunteers in the province. A continental breakfast was
served, followed by remarks from incoming Tennis Canada CEO Kelly Murumets, and concluding with a short Q&A with
special guest and up-and-coming player Brayden Schnur of Ontario. Most of the interview was captured and put up on the
OTA's YouTube station, so take a look on our website if you haven't already
done so.
Fundraising
The OTA participated this year for the first
time in the 3rd annual Raonic Race-For-Kids fundraising event organized by
Tennis Canada. Our team, the "OTA Future Stars", raised over $9,000 for the charity, with the total
amount raised across 16 teams coming in at $130,000. Our celebrity team captain
was ATP and Canadian Davis Cup tennis star Frank Dancevic, who gave every
challenge great energy and enthusiasm. More information can be found at The Milos Raonic Foundation website.
Governance
& Risk Management
The OTA continued to progress priorities from
our governance and risk management plan.
A small board committee worked with OTA staff in 2013/14 to develop a draft of
a comprehensive Volunteer Policy
including background check requirements for OTA employees, coaches,
officials and volunteers. This initiative forms part of the OTA's overall Risk
Management Plan that has been in place since 2009. The policy has been approved and includes
details such as the role of the volunteer to the success of tennis in Ontario,
volunteer rights and expectations, volunteer training and orientation and
volunteer recognition. It also includes new requirements for conducting various
levels of police background checks
(PBCs) for OTA volunteers, employees and other paid positions such as coaches
and officials. Background checks take affect Jan 1, 2015 and will be required
for all officials and coaches and select volunteers. These and other policies
can be found on the CLUBSTRONG resource
centre.
Tennis
Canada / OTA Partnership
The Provincial Tennis Association (PTA)
Presidents meet regularly through the Council
of Provinces (COP) and in 2014 we focused our efforts to continue building
a stronger relationship with the provinces and Tennis Canada. For the first
time, Tennis Canada met with all the provincial Presidents and their Executive
Directors in Toronto in late October to focus discussion on how to best grow
tennis participation in Canada. This was an historical first step simply
because it was the acknowledgement by all involved that in order for us to
succeed we must all have consensus and buy-in to the programs in which we
invest. Everyone left the two-day meeting feeling that their ideas mattered and
that the action steps identified will make a strong impact to growing tennis
participation in Canada over the long term. More meetings of this kind will
take place in 2015 including coverage of other important areas such as
Marketing and High Performance. This is a new way of working together
collaboratively with Tennis Canada and the provinces and I for one am extremely
happy we are taking this direction.
OTA's Annual General Meeting
This year's AGM was held on Saturday, April 11 with a full house of attendees from over 48 member clubs. After the business of the AGM completed, we had guest speakers from Sterling Backcheck (Ron Modi) and Altruvest (Robert Harris) provide insight into police background checks and board governance. This was followed by some time on the courts for those who signed up, allowed us to demonstrate a number of the programs that get delivered to communities throughout the year. Thank you to all our supportive clubs for attending, voicing their opinions, networking with other members and enjoying the food and seminars.
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| AGM Attendees Enjoying the Smashcage |
